All Children’s Hospital Featured at This Year's TBBJ Health Care Heroes Awards

All Children's was in the spotlight at this year's Tampa Bay Business Journal's Health Care Heroes Awards dinner, honored as a finalist in the Team, Innovation and Volunteer categories. Congratulations to our finalists and their outstanding contributions to the patient and family experience.

Brittany Nelson and her colleagues on the multidisciplinary Asthma Education Team were honored as finalists in the Team Category for their work in using the GetWellNetwork Asthma Care Plan as a teaching tool for nurses to provide asthma education to the patient and family and ensure that every child has a Home Management Plan of Care before being discharged from the hospital.

"In the past year, 400 patients have been able to receive quality asthma education through the GetWellNetwork during their hospital stay," says Brittany. The Asthma Care Plan is also available in Spanish and has been able to assist in providing quality education to our Spanish-speaking families."

The GetWellNetwork is the ACH interactive patient education and entertainment system. Several months ago a new interface between the GetWellNetwork and the hospital's electronic medical record made it possible for the education plan to be prescribed directly from the bedside, and for the medical record to show the clinical team when the patient and family has completed the required videos.

The asthma educator is able to monitor the patient's progress through the Asthma Care Plan's ten modules: short videos followed by two or three comprehension questions. She can provide additional teaching if needed, and to answer any questions or special concerns.

The successful program has resulted in a steep drop in asthma readmission rates at ACH, and the team has shared this educational model with the Florida Hospital Association and with other hospitals across the U.S. that use the GetWellNetwork.

Volunteer: Jessica Tomlinson

Jessica is a familiar presence inside the lobby of All Children's Hospital, where she performs for passersby every Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. She is one of an array of talented pianists who give their time each week for All Children's Volunteer Services program.

Jessica was born with a condition called optic nerve hyperplasia (meaning her optic nerve was under-developed, leaving her only able to make out hazy images or large type held a few inches from her face) A graduate of St. Petersburg High School with a degree in sound engineering from Full Sail University in Orlando, she took up piano only seven years ago.

She hopes her music helps add a few extra smiles or briefly lightens the load for people walking by. "I really like the environment, and people interact with you sometimes," she says. "I think many people look at a hospital as a place of trauma. But I look at it as a place of rest and healing, and a place of care."

Innovation and Research: MRI without Sedation Project

Led by Cindy Driscoll, this team developed an innovative method to allow NICU patients to undergo brain MRI without the need for sedation, increasing access to MRI, decreasing costs, and most importantly, increasing patient safety by avoiding the risks associated with anesthesia. Dr. Evan Harris and Dr. Anthony Napolitano, collaborators on this project were on hand to accept the honor.

The very same evening, this project received an Innovation in Healthcare Award from the Florida Hospital Association. Watch BeACH and allkids.org next week for more details.

Human Resources is a program under All Children's Hospital. All Children's Hospital
is the only specialty licensed children's hospital on Florida's west coast. Founded in
1926, All Children's has grown into a leading pediatric referral center that is
dedicated to advancing treatment, education, research and advocacy in child health.